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Striker Marcus Rashford scored a second-half winner as a young and much-changed England avoided an unprecedented fourth successive defeat by beating Switzerland 1-0 in a friendly on Tuesday.
The Manchester United forward clinically side-footed the ball home at the back post in the 54th minute at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium after an over-hit corner was swung back in by Kyle Walker.
It was Rashford’s fifth goal for England in 27 matches, and second in the space of days after he also scored against Spain in the 2-1 Nations League defeat at Wembley last Saturday.
The World Cup semi-finalists, who made nine changes to the starting line-up, provided few thrills in a first half controlled by the more flowing Swiss but were much sharper after the break.
“Everybody voiced their opinion at halftime and in the second half we took control,” man-of-the-match Danny Rose told Sky Sports television.
Team mate Harry Maguire agreed it had been a bit fiery in the dressing room.
“Definitely a few words spoken between the boys,” said the Leicester City player. “All of us, we weren’t happy with the performance at halftime. We gave them a little too much respect with the ball.”
Manager Gareth Southgate altered the shape after the break, moving the defence higher up the pitch while the players did a better job of keeping possession.
Richarlison doubles helps Brazil to 5-0 triumph
A double from Richarlison on his first international start helped Brazil to a 5-0 win over El Salvador in Maryland on Tuesday.
Brazil ran out with a new-look side, with coach Tite giving debuts to goalkeeper Neto and full-back Eder Militao as well as first starts to Richarlison at centre forward and Arthur in midfield.
The new boys looked completely at home against a team ranked 72nd in the world and Brazil took just three minutes to open the scoring when Neymar slotted home a penalty after Richarlison had been brought down in the box.
Richarlison got his name on the scoresheet 13 minutes later when he curled a spectacular shot into the top corner from 15 meters out and on the half hour mark Brazil made it 3-0, Phillipe Coutinho firing home from the edge of the box after Neymar laid the ball into his path.
Both sides made changes at halftime but the five-times world champions took just five more minutes to get a fourth goal, with Richarlison scoring his second when he pounced onto a loose ball to rifle home a low shot from inside the box.
Marquinhos got Brazil a fifth in the final minute when he headed home a corner from Neymar.
Teenager Adams' goal gives US 1-0 win over Mexico
A second-half goal from 19-year old Tyler Adams, his first for his country, gave the United States a 1-0 win over Mexico in a friendly in Nashville on Tuesday.
Mexico’s Angel Zaldivar was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Wil Trapp in the 67th minute and four minutes later the home side got the winner, Adams taking advantage of poor positioning by the Mexican defence to slot home from 12 meters out.
The win was a welcome one for the home side, who lost last week’s friendly against Brazil, but another disappointment for Mexico as they have now lost three games in a row.
The Mexicans went down 4-1 to Uruguay last week, their first friendly after being knocked out the World Cup at the last 16 stage by Brazil.
Argentina share lacklustre 0-0 draw with Colombia
Argentina and Colombia drew 0-0 in a friendly in New Jersey on Tuesday in a game that did little to cheer fans of either side hoping for a boost after disappointing World Cup showings.
Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina made a fine diving save to tip an Exequiel Palacios shot over the bar after six minutes while his Argentine counterpart Franco Armani was the busier of the two in the second half but neither side looked like breaking the deadlock.
Both sides used stand-in coaches for the game, with Jose Pekerman resigning as Colombia boss last week and Argentina still to replace Jorge Sampaoli, who left his post after the World Cup.
Argentina, who were without Lionel Messi, fielded a young side and they were unable to make much headway against the more experienced Colombians.
